


Ultimatum

by portgasdace



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-20
Updated: 2015-08-29
Packaged: 2018-03-02 07:35:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 1,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2804633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/portgasdace/pseuds/portgasdace
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two delinquent brothers who like to fight, but don't fight for much. AU AceLu.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Not

**Author's Note:**

> not sure where this is set yet. not sure what time period either. between 80s and '02, to narrow it down.

His movements were those of a picture, as if going frame by frame. Clothes and face bloodstained with his disheveled black hair, he would be winning this fight. He received a blow in the gut and blood spluttered up his throat, but that's fine—he would be winning this fight. It was close to midnight. Sweat flew and dried on the pavement. 

His opponent toppled over; Luffy, a shrimp, towered over someone so big who now looked so small.

Luffy caught his breath and wiped his forehead, the blood smeared across his skin that was darkened by the night. He donned his straw hat and sat on the ground, away from the unconscious body. Twenty minutes.

Twenty minutes until Ace came walking down the street; the location was one that both Luffy and Ace used interchangeably, for fighting purposes. 

Luffy, the shrimp, now had someone towering over him; his older brother. Luffy smiled. He was smacked. No more smile. He exclaimed in pain. He was brought up to his feet, manhandled by his shirt collar.

"I told you not to fight without me, how many times?"

"But I...-" Smacked again. Luffy winced.

"If you want to fight, you're doing it with me," an angry voice.

With one eye scrunched shut, Luffy nodded quickly.

"This is the last time! Clear?"

Luffy nodded again.

This wouldn't be the last time; the scene had already repeated itself a few times. 

Ace let him go. He wet his palms with saliva and started to rub Luffy's face clean.

"Who was the guy?"

Luffy scanned the abandoned lot. "I think he's gone now."

"So what? That's not what I'm asking. I said who's the guy. I'll fuck him up later."

Luffy told Ace his most recent opponent's name, finally getting it right after some failed attempts; anyone who Luffy would fight, Ace would fight.

-

They went home. Luffy's first stop was the shower. Luffy's second and last stop was Ace's bed; he was now covered in poorly applied bandages. Ace didn't say anything when his brother entered. Of course, this was because he was almost waiting for him. 

They fell asleep holding hands.


	2. Together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> runner-up ch title: gays anoyniymmouse
> 
> i wanted to make this story half action. this chapter has no action...all right. (it took a long time to find an idea even for this kind of thing)

Luffy woke up under the messy sheets alone. It was storming. It was still rather dark.

He fell back asleep.

Soon, he woke up again; Ace was in bed. It was still storming. Ace's hair was drenched and the sheets had become damp. 

Ace was staring at Luffy. Even the fact that Luffy was now awake didn't make him stop. 

Luffy yawned. "What?"

Ace shifted, and kissed him. And kissed him. And kissed him.

Luffy's elbows buckled and he tried to push Ace away a little, though, in the end, Ace separated from Luffy on his own accord. Ace stood. Only in boxers. Luffy brushed two fingers against his lips as he stared down at the sheets; a troubled expression. 

"Huh." Ace wore pants and a shirt, previously discarded on the floor; he strode out of the room afterwards.

Luffy stared at the open door, and through it, Ace's figure. 

Luffy tossed the sheets that still covered him and followed hurriedly after Ace. Caught up in no time, he wrapped his arms around Ace's waist, as a way of stopping him. "I'm sorry."

Ace let himself be held by a person whose build was several times smaller than his own.

"I'm not worrying."

He's worrying.

"Yeah."

"I'm not frustrated."

He's frustrated.

"Yeah."

"I don't love you."

He loves him.

Luffy's arms squeezed tighter.

"Yeah."

There was a pause...Ace removed Luffy's arms so he could, instead, embrace Luffy himself.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I didn't mean that..."

"Ace."

Ace looked Luffy in the eyes; Luffy having already raised his head to look at Ace.

"I think I'm scared."

Ace kissed him. And kissed him. And kissed him. And they went their separate ways for that day.


	3. Clear

If his opponent was the beanstalk, then Ace was at least the giant. In which case, Luffy must have been Jack—that's what Ace thought. 

Ace continuously struck his opponent in the region of his mouth. His reasons for participating in this one-sided fight were half for Luffy, in the relative sense, and half for other irrelevant affairs (though still involving Luffy); he was frustrated at the moment.

Marked with some kind of dirty shade of red, his knuckles throbbed. His opponent's blood appeared pure enough as it was being beat out of him, so Ace guessed that mud, or something, got to his hands somehow.

Ace felt sick.

He wanted to see Luffy soon.

It proved to not be such a good idea to fight in broad daylight; Ace heard police sirens. Gangsters were actively persuading the sirens towards Ace's exact direction.

Ace dropped the guy and dashed.

He didn't know where to, at first; he ended up at a corner store. It was right across from a night club that he frequents; Ace went inside of the store and came out with a bag full of candy. Mostly, they were chocolates.

He continued to consume the contents of the bag until he became tired enough to actually, intentionally, let himself fall asleep by the road side.

-

When he woke up, it was late. He spit, and entered the club. He sat around for a few minutes; he denied offers of drinks and ignored acquaintances.

Eventually, a woman tried to escort him. And he followed her. His plastic bag remained in his hand. Only when they entered a private bedroom did Ace break out of his trance; he abruptly ran out of the bedroom, out of the club. Straight to home.

He was running a lot today.

As Ace ran, a small package of chocolate malted balls escaped his bag. 

Ace looked up at the night sky.

"The only person I'd ever fuck is my brother!" He shouted.


	4. Milksop

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> maybe i'll actually read this over later

Luffy was lounging on the couch, doing nothing in particular—zoning off, maybe playing with his legs in the air—when Ace had came back from who knows where.

At the sound of the door's lock, Luffy jumped from his idle position. Though a walk from the living room to the corridor couldn't take anymore than a few seconds, Luffy ran to see Ace.

All that Luffy had thought about all day was Ace, anyway. He couldn't distract himself well with other things; he'd almost walked straight into a post lamp earlier, as he was wondering what Ace could be doing. If it wasn't for Usopp, who had shoved him out of the way of the fatal path in the nick of time, Luffy would probably be rocking a forehead compress right now.

Ace was kicking off his sneakers when Luffy halted in front of him. The plastic bag of junk was slung over his shoulder.

Luffy was smiling, as usual.

Ace thought Luffy looked happier than a chirping bird.

"Hey, Ace!"

Luffy's attention, however, quickly fell from his brother's face to the see-through bag of goods that he was holding.

Luffy gaped. "Hey, are you gonna share tho--..se?.."

The last part to his question ended in a high, squeaky pitch. Mid-question, Ace had trapped him against the wall.

"Yo, Luffy."

Luffy stared at Ace nervously. His expression gave off the notion that he was utterly pissed off. Though, that wasn't exactly the case; it was more of a mix of impatience and frustration, but it seemed as if Ace could only make about three different facial expressions per day, at best.

"I've been thinking, and you know—just what're you so afraid of?"

Ace was referring to what Luffy had said in the morning, and, though uncharacteristically, Luffy realized right away.

Luffy abandoned his hesitant look, and adopted one of assertiveness.

"...I don't want to love my brother."

Ace sneered. "And so what? I still remember the day you came crying to my chest, blubbering and all," Ace raised his voice a pitch, "'I love you! I love you!'" He taunted.

Embarrassed and irritated, Luffy attempted to kick Ace in the shin; Ace parried with a stop-kick.

"Coward," Ace said boorishly.

Ace removed his hand from the wall.

He dropped the bag at Luffy's feet and walked away.

The rustling of the candies as they dropped to the wooden floor sounded almost musical.


	5. Impulse

Luffy eyed the spilled candies for not a moment before rushing off to find Ace. Though he moved like Ace could have been on the other side of the planet, he was again, in fact, only a few feet away from Luffy.

He stopped the then still-walking Ace by wrapping his arms around his waist. He planted his forehead to Ace's back.

"I love you."

That was all he said. And, really, had to say.

That is, for Ace to disregard any future uncertainties Luffy could possibly develop, and wholly act selfishly. 

Luffy, on the other hand, found that though he utterly treasured the brotherly relationship he has with Ace, he would also want to treasure something like this—love—with Ace, as well.

"Yeah. I love you, too."

It was late.

By the hand, Ace led Luffy to their room; to his bed.

There, they lay in a spirituous embrace.

Neither of them slept immediately; neither of them initiated any sort of conversation. At this moment, ones' physical company was good enough for the other.

-

Ace awakened to Luffy's energetic face, probably anticipating his rousing; he quickly turned on a smile when he'd noticed that Ace was officially awake.

Ace took one look at Luffy and smacked him, the latter exclaimed in pain, as usual.

"You tellin' me you slipped out to fight!? What the hell...! Shit, I let down my guard..."

Luffy grasped his head painfully. "No...! I--" He attempted to feed Ace one of his poor lies. In truth, he'd nearly forgotten this previously scheduled brawl, and snuck away through Ace's snores.

His body clearly gave him away; he had bruises, cuts, scratches, and some poorly applied wraps and bandages. He was honestly hoping that Ace wouldn't notice.

"Oh, just stuff it!" At this point Ace had gotten up. He was in the middle of washing his face and areas of his body. "You think I wouldn't tell the difference? Damn idiot..."

Luffy strained trying to come up with a believable tale. 

Changed into fresh clothes, Ace turned the doorknob. 

"I'm gonna fuck up this guy over again," knowing that Luffy had already won (albeit that wasn't the point). "And then I'm gonna fuck up everybody he knows under eighty."

Ace looked down at Luffy, who had been sitting on the floor all that while.

"Come on." Ace signaled for him to come with a movement of his head.

Shocked a little, Luffy stumbled to a stand. 

Nowadays, Ace normally never let Luffy accompany him on business such as this.

Before Luffy got too elated, however, Ace added: "You're just watching, though."

Some things never change.

-

At the doorway, they met the discarded candy bag from last night.

They both took a piece and ate it, Luffy could've gone for more, though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> maybe i will edit this a little later, but for now this is it! thank you for reading.


End file.
